Why is Japan releasing

Fukushima wastewater into

the Pacific and how safe is it?
reysa pranatasya
(221013251019)

Daniel
 PENDAHULUAN
A WHY IS JAPAN RELEASING NUCLEAR WASTEWATER
INTO THE OCEAN?

B HOW HAS THE WASTEWATER BEEN TREATED?

C IS THE TREATED WATER SAFE?

D WHO IS MONITORING SAFETY STANDARDS?

E HOW IS THE WORLD REACTING?

 A. WHY IS JAPAN RELEASING
NUCLEAR WASTEWATER INTO
THE OCEAN?
Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant melted as a result of the 9.1-magnitude earthquake that struck in
March 2011. Nearly US$150 billion has been spent to clean up the worst atomic accident since the 1986 Chernobyl
disaster. However, the plant still produces 100 cubic metres of wastewater daily. A mixture of groundwater and
seawater is used to keep the reactors cool, before being filtered and stored in tanks. There are 1,000 tanks on site
but space is running out, and they will reach their capacity of 1.3 million cubic metres in early 2024.
Japan announced in April 2021 that it planned to gradually release the treated wastewater that has been
accumulating at the plant since the disaster. According to various media outlets, Japanese officials noted that the
wastewater must be removed to avoid accidental leaks in the event of another earthquake as well as to create
space for the decommissioning of the plant. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is also unable
to continue clearing space for additional tanks, Bloomberg reported, adding that the utility company already felled
500 sq m of trees to make room for the tanks. In a 2020 report, TEPCO said it would discharge the water into the
ocean over the course of 30 to 40 years.
 B. HOW HAS THE WASTEWATER
BEEN TREATED?

According to the IAEA, the tainted water has been recycled through the Advanced Liquid Processing System
(ALPS), a pumping and filtration system which uses “a series of chemical reactions to remove 62 radionuclides
from contaminated water”.
While most of the radioactive elements have been filtered out, it still contains tritium, an isotope that is difficult
to separate from water due to it being chemically similar to hydrogen.
Tritium may “present a radiation hazard if inhaled or ingested but is only harmful to humans in very large
doses”, according to IAEA.
A TEPCO spokesperson told National Geographic that the wastewater will be repeatedly purified, sampled,
and retested to confirm that the concentrations of radioactive substances fall below regulatory standards
before being released.
 C. IS THE TREATED
WATER SAFE?
Over the past two years, IAEA’s task force has conducted five review missions and published six reports on the safety aspects of Japan’s plan
to release the wastewater In the UN agency's final review on Tuesday, it noted that Japan’s plan is "consistent with relevant international
safety standards". It added that the “controlled, gradual discharges of the treated water to the sea ... would have a negligible radiological
impact on people and the environment”. Even though tritium has a radioactive half-life of 12.32 years, the wastewater has a short biological
half-life of seven days to 14 days in the human body, according to the IAEA. “The biological half-life of a chemical (for example, a drug) in a
living organism is the time it takes for half of that chemical to be depleted or eliminated from the body,” it added. Experts said what Japan
plans to do is consistent with that in other nuclear sites around the world. “The controlled discharge of wastewater with small amounts of
radioactive tritium happens regularly at nuclear sites all over the world,” Professor Jim Smith, an environmental scientist at the University of
Portsmouth, told Science Media Centre. IAEA expert Professor Mikhail Balonov shared the same sentiments, adding that nuclear facilities in
other countries release more tritium in their wastewater each year, in comparison to the level of tritium in the wastewater that Japan intends
to release. Online media collective The Conversation reported that about 8.4kg of tritium is already present in the Pacific Ocean, which is
small in comparison to the total amount in Fukushima’s wastewater at 3g. Prof Smith said: “Claims have been made about significant risks to
the Pacific Ocean ecosystem from the planned Fukushima release. But these are not founded on scientific evidence. Tritiated water can
damage DNA if ingested, but it is very weakly radiotoxic and does not biomagnify in the food chain so risks are extremely low.” However,
Associate Professor Kumpei Hayashi at Fukushima University told The Associated Press that the level of tritium is “still worrisome when it
comes to the ageing problems that will emerge in 20 years or 30 years”. The American Association for the Advancement of Science also
reported that more dangerous isotopes with longer radioactive lifespans - ruthenium, cobalt, strontium, and plutonium – can slip through the
ALPS process at times. TEPCO noted that the isotopes are present in 71 per cent of the tanks on site. "These radioactive isotopes behave
differently than tritium in the ocean and are more readily incorporated into marine biota or seafloor sediments," marine chemist Ken
Buesseler told the association.
 D. WHO IS MONITORING SAFETY
STANDARDS?

The IAEA on Tuesday said that it will continue its safety review during the discharge of wastewater, while maintaining an
on-site presence and providing “live online monitoring on its website from the discharge facility”.
“This will ensure the relevant international safety standards continue to be applied throughout the decades-long process
laid out by the government of Japan and TEPCO,” said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi during a visit to Japan.
The agency’s task force, comprising 11 experts from the likes of Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom, will
also “serve as the primary source for the technical and regulatory expertise needed to complete the IAEA’s review”.
Grossi added: “The IAEA will continue to provide transparency to the international community, making it possible for all
stakeholders to rely on verified fact and science to inform their understanding of this matter throughout the process.”
IAEA also said it would carry on with regular reporting to keep the public and other countries informed of the latest
developments.
 E. HOW IS THE WORLD
REACTING?
Japan’s plan to gradually release the treated wastewater - enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools - has been met with protests from fishing
communities in Fukushima, who are worried that customers will shun their catches, despite strict testing protocols for food from the region.
Although TEPCO has been engaging with the communities and other stakeholders, fishing unions in Fukushima have urged the Japanese government
for years not to release the water, arguing it would undo work to restore the damaged reputation of their fisheries.
A petition from the regions around the plant has garnered more than 250,000 signatures since the proposal was first made.
After Japan announced a date from which it will release the water, Hong Kong said it will curb some Japan food imports.
"The Japanese government has decided on its own to discharge nuclear wastewater into the sea," Hong Kong leader John Lee said in a Facebook post.
"I express my strong objections," he added, calling the move "irresponsible" as it disregarded food safety and environmental risks.
Hong Kong is the second-largest receiver of Japanese food imports, after mainland China, according to Japan's ministry of agriculture.
The announcement followed a similar one by China's General Administration of Customs, which had threatened a blanket ban on all foodstuffs from the
areas. The 10 prefectures named were Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama.
Through its embassy in Japan, Beijing said in July that the IAEA report cannot be a "pass" for the water release and called for the plan's suspension.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also warned that the proposed release carries risks for neighbouring countries and Pacific Island
nations, with Bloomberg quoting him as saying that the ocean is “not Japan’s private sewer”.
Some South Koreans were reported to be panic-buying salt due to contamination fears once the treated wastewater is released.
The rush to stock up on salt contributed to a nearly 27 per cent rise in the price of the commodity - compared with two months ago - in South Korea in
June, though officials said the weather and lower production were also to blame.
The Pacific Islands Forum, consisting of 18 nations including Fiji and Australia, have also urged Japan to “consider alternatives and called for additional
discussions on the risks”.
thank you